Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Sound Off - Day 2

A report from Day 2 of the Adidas Sound Body-Sound Mind prep football camp out at Southfield High School.

Burney was out at SB-SM on Thursday and caught up with some breakout stars from the camp hailing from Birmingham Detroit Country Day and the host Southfield Bluejays:

Birmingham DCD

Huge Day 2 performance from Yellowjackets WR Maurice Ways who got his CALVIN JOHNSON on and showed why he's a fast-riser to watch out for on the recruiting scene. Ways has height (6-3, 210), length, nice wheels (4.5), sticky hands and he is a precise route runner…I.E. he has ALL THE RIGHT STUFF!! He's a genuine sleeper and reminds Burney of the way former DCD receiver and current MSU Spartan Bennie Fowler bloomed on the gridiron late in his high school career.

New 'Jackets QB Tyler Wiegers continued his OUTSTANDING offseason Thursday by cutting up the comp in 7-on-7s, further solidifying himself as one of the state's best field general prospects in the Class of 2014.

DCD star lineman Poet Thomas and up-and-coming defensive back Christian Wright were also impressing scouts with their respective efforts on Thursday. Thomas has a bunch of D1 offers, while Wright, like Ways, is an under-the-radar guy that can do lots of damage on the field.

Wright, Thomas and Ways are all two-sport standouts, too, playing on the 'Jackets nationally-renowned hoop squad that made a run into the final four back in March.

Two more guys to expect big seasons from with TEAM MAC this fall is RB Richie Wilson and lineman Connor Darby. Wilson is a slippery and savvy burner, who made varsity last year as a sophomore and came on real strong late in the campaign in the squad's playoff push. Darby is a beefy, but agile beast in the trenches and will combine forces with Thomas this season to anchor DCD up front.

Southfield

SUPER STUD Bluejays WR Brandon Bean was the star of the day for TEAM CONLEY in Day 2 of SB-SM. Bean was destroying secondaries in 7-on-7s and showing all his best SIR-GRIND-A-LOT attributes in the morning drilling sessions. This kid is the consummate pro in every sense of the word. He'll be an absolute steal for whatever college winds up garnering his services.

Shifty tailback Gerald Gates is another Bluejays offensive weapon that made like a bomb and BLEW UP on Thursday. GG is a blazer with 4.4 speed and moves like a prep version of Arian Foster……Yeah, I SAID IT!! He'll probably be the featured runner in Southfield's backfield this fall and could wind up snaring himself a scholarship to college out of virtually nowhere, since he was playing behind all-state Brandon Watkins last year as a junior and didn't see that many touches to give himself a chance to make noise.

BALLER and BANGER Collin Buchanan, the 'Jay's No. 1 line prospect, picked up a scholarship offer from Akron on Wednesday and was simply overpowering the comp in drills on Thursday, flexing his muscles and demonstrating his excellent foot work and instinct.

About Me

Scott M. Burnstein grew up in Bloomfield Hills and attended school at Birmingham Roeper, where he earned multiple varsity letters in both basketball and baseball, and has been following the local preps scene since the 1980's. Mr. Burnstein attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received a bachelors of arts degree in political science, and the John Marshall Law School, in Chicago, Illinois, where he got his Juris Doctrate. He has covered high school sports for both the Detroit Free Press and the Oakland Press, and is the author of the 2007 regional best-selling book, The Motor City Mafia - A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit, Family Affair - Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in The Chicago Mafia (2010), Mafia Prince - The Crazy Phil Leonetti Story (2012) and The Detroit True Crime Chronicles (2013).